BEI Confluence has undertaken a major restructuring. The agency has divided its operations under two divisions, India-I and India-II. Devraj Basu has been elevated as COO (India-I) and will head the Delhi and Kolkata offices. At the same time, Kiran Vernekar has been promoted as COO (India-II) and will head the Mumbai and Bangalore branches as well as Hocus Focus, the entertainment and in-film subsidiary of BEI Confluence.

Vernekar will be assisted by Bina Sitlani, Client Servicing Director (West), Pabitra Roy and RM Simha as Creative Directors, Sandeep Chatterjee, President of Hocus Focus and the Bangalore Unit Head.

SP Chowdhury has also been redesignated as General Manager-Finance with an all-India jurisdiction.

Talking about the new restructure, Tapas Gupta, Managing Director, BEI Confluence, said, “To cope with the scorching growth pace of the company across offices, it is imperative now to delegate responsibilities to COOs of India-I and India-II and to the Regional VPs. This is to ensure decentralization which will enable us to take quicker and on-the-spot decisions in keeping with the ground realities.”

The agency has grown 65 per cent in 2006-07 over the previous year and has set a target of attaining billings of Rs 150 crore in 2007-08. Some of the new businesses won by it in 2006 include Ansal API, Amar Ujala, NTPC, Eurofly, JK Wall Putty and BenQ Siemens in Delhi; Sagem mobile phones, Camlin pencils, Birla Sunlife Distribution in Mumbai; and Health and Glow, Giani’s and a large part of Bengal Ambuja in Kolkata.

Commenting on his new role, Vernekar said, “BEI Confluence is fundamentally a challenger agency. The new role is essentially to make further inroads into Mumbai, look into new markets like the South and to make a presence felt there. As far as Hocus Focus is concerned, we want to establish it as a strong contender in the entertainment business.”

Basu on his part said, “Having raised the bar quite distinctly, I feel further responsible and motivated to lead the agency to newer heights in terms of the quality of strategic inputs and creative output that we can provide to our clients. The challenge really is to maintain the pace and growth trajectory and as a team continue to stand and deliver tangible distinction for our clients.”